Cypriots angry over claims of wild sex orgies by tourists

Cypriots have reacted with anger after it emerged that wild sex orgies
involving tourists had taken place on ferries.

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Ayia Napa is popular with families for its pristine beachesPhoto: GETTY

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However since 2000 it has gained a reputation as a clubber's paradise, attracting hoardes of young partygoersPhoto: Abbie Trayler-Smith

By Our Foreign Staff and Agencies in Nicosia

12:31PM BST 22 Jul 2009

Photographs purporting to show the sexual escapades of groups of young tourists visiting the island's popular resort of Ayia Napa were printed in the Norwegian press, following similar claims involving British and Scandinavian holidaymakers three years ago.

Once a sleepy fishing village, Ayia Napa is popular with families for its pristine beaches but since 2000 has gained a reputation as a clubber's paradise, attracting hordes of young partygoers.

The photographs were reportedly taken on local ferries which offer night cruises off the coast of Cyprus.

"The photographs we see do not respect us at all. They show a bad image which is not the true image of Ayia Napa," said the town's mayor, Antonis Tsokkos.

Giorgos Economou, a police spokesman, told Reuters that similar stories about such cruises surfaced every year in the foreign press.

"The boats are checked every day by the port police and no evidence has been found as yet to suggest such activities are going on.

"But we wouldn't be able stop them when they're in the middle of the open seas doing their business."